Georgetown Cupcake Gives an Unprecedented Look at Cupcakes

Any given day of the week, you can tune into Georgetown Cupcake’s Cupcake Cam Live and see the ultimate form of transparency in the bakery world. Through its deal with the TLC Network, the bakery provides a live stream of its kitchen via six cameras – one on its oven/mixers, one inside its refrigerator, one on top of its frosting table, one on its fondant station, one on its cupcake racks, and one on its packing counter. It is the only bakery or restaurant with cameras streaming 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, which is a source of pride for its owners.

“We love our Cupcake Cam Live . . . You can literally pop into our bakery at any time of day from anywhere in the world to see what’s happening at Georgetown Cupcake! It is an amazing way to make our customers and fans get an intimate behind-the-scenes looks at our bakery and make them feel a part of our business process. With our Cupcake Cam Live, we are able to connect to our customers is an intimate and authentic way and that is very powerful in building customer trust in your brand,” says co-founder Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne.

Sophie and her sister Katherine Kallinis Berman had established Georgetown Cupcake as a premiere cupcake destination in the country when TLC approached them about an idea for a show about their cupcakery. Producers shot footage of them working, took the footage to TLC, and not long after they were filming the first season of DC Cupcakes. The show allows them to share their baking adventures with viewers around the world. For example, in the episode “One Ton Cupcake,” viewers watched as they set the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Cupcake by baking one that was over 1 ton in weight. It’s that unique approach to accessibility, in addition to a commitment to the best quality ingredients in its food, that has given Georgetown Cupcake a leg up on the competition.

Part of that access includes the Cupcake Cam Live, which has become an incredible marketing tool. Connecting with customers has become more important than ever in the baking industry, and Georgetown Cupcake has forged a strong relationship with its fans by bringing them into the kitchen. The bakery uses social media to build interest in what’s going on through promotions like the daily Secret Flavor, which viewers can see on the Cupcake Cam and will then be available to them in-store while supplies last.

LaMontagne and Berman came into the baking industry after trading in their careers in fashion and venture capital. They had dreamed of opening a bakery together, and eventually made that dream a reality in 2008. “Sophie and I developed our passion for baking from our grandmother. It was our grandmother who taught us to bake and it was from her that we developed our love and passion for baking. From her, we saw and experienced the joy that we could bring to others through baking – the notion that something that we made with our own hands could bring happiness to others,” says Berman.

The passion that fueled their early commitment to baking has driven them to great success. Since 2008, Georgetown Cupcake has grown to six retail locations – the Georgetown flagship, Bethesda (Maryland), New York City (SoHo), Boston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Additionally, the cupcakery ships its products nationwide through online ordering and sells its cupcake mixes through a partnership with upscale culinary retail store Williams Sonoma. The sisters have been careful to not weaken their brand while scaling up.

In less than ten years, the business has grown to six retail locations throughout the United States.

“Our growth over the past 9+ years has been very deliberate because from the outset, we never wanted to be viewed as a ‘chain’. From very early on, Georgetown Cupcake has been a passion brand so as we scale our company, we want to be sure not to dilute that feeling of ‘smallness’ that keeps Georgetown Cupcake special,” says LaMontagne.

Another reason for its success is that Georgetown Cupcake keeps a pulse on what flavors are trending, while also perfecting the flavors that made it a success in the first place. LaMontagne says that they (and their customers) often prefer the classics.

“The best thing about cupcakes is that they are a classic American dessert and so the most popular flavors with our customers always tend to be our classics – our Red Velvet, Salted Caramel, or Chocolate Ganache. The classics never go out of style,” she says.

Viewers can watch these cupcakes be crafted at all hours of the day, giving them the opportunity to pop in virtually to see what’s happening in the kitchen and then pop in physically to taste these excellent cupcakes for themselves.